This case study describes the launch of a new credit card product by Bank of America, which better serves people who struggle to manage their finances than traditional credit card products. View Summary

This case study describes the launch of a new credit card product by Bank of America, which better serves people who struggle to manage their finances than traditional credit card products.

Following the brand's re-launch in 2013 it identified an under-served customer group: 'revolvers' are people who struggle to pay down debt on time making typical credit card communications rewarding spending are inappropriate.

It launched the BankAmericard Better Balance Rewards credit card, which rewarded customers for paying more than the minimum payment, on time.

Results include sales 10% above projections, with higher repayment and lower loss rates than comparable products, as well as higher satisfaction scores.

The card has been important in improving brand metrics too, with higher than average 'emotional impact' scores and positive earned media coverage.

2

American Express Canada: Cloud 10 - Revitalizing the airport as an acquisition channel

This case study demonstrates how American Express, the financial services provider, proved the link between its Platinum Card product and premium travel experiences by revitalising the airport as a sales channel, and grew applications in Canada as a result. View Summary

This case study demonstrates how American Express, the financial services provider, proved the link between its Platinum Card product and premium travel experiences by revitalising the airport as a sales channel, and grew applications in Canada as a result.

American Express's premium card franchise has been lagging in Canada due to increases in annual fees, increased competition and a weakening of the link between Amex and premium travel value.

Objectives were to reverse the decline and boost monthly applications by 20% by restoring the brand association with premium travel experiences.

Amex maximised its preferred partner status with Toronto Pearson International Airport by identifying pain points that visitors experienced and through the 'Cloud 10' platform, alleviate those stresses, while at the same time activating envy in non-cardholders.

Monthly applications increased by more than target and the campaign delivered 2.74:1 ROMI.

This article explains why people are poor at saving money and suggests four applications of behavioural science that brands are using to help people to save more. View Summary

This article explains why people are poor at saving money and suggests four applications of behavioural science that brands are using to help people to save more.

The proportion of income that is saved in the UK peaked in 1979, at an average of 14%, and since then rates have fallen dramatically - as low as 2% in 2008, rising to 5% in 2013; the US has also averaged 5% savings over the past 6 years.

Barriers to saving are the increased ease of spending and finite resources of self-control, genetic or learned disposition towards better self-control, feeling the pain of spending more acutely, having different motivations for saving or in-built (over-)optimism about the future.

Four ways to save more and more successfully: earmarking and partitioning savings, building a savings habit with regular triggers and small steps, improving saving through use of simple rules of thumb, and reframing saving.

Examples of cognitive biases that get in the way of good money management include poor mental accounting facilities, the use of cards instead of cash to make spending less visible, the 'power of now' that discounts future pain, and inertia around switching current accounts.

Steps that help consumers stay in credit include current accounts that don't provide overdrafts at all and online forecasting that provides automatic feedback to customers about the state of their balance.

Financial providers are helping consumers with their mental accounting by splitting customers' money into virtual accounts to organise their money and ensure there is enough to pay bills.

This article explains how Barclays, the bank, took a new approach to evaluating the performance of sponsorship programmes and presenting the data. View Summary

This article explains how Barclays, the bank, took a new approach to evaluating the performance of sponsorship programmes and presenting the data.

Barclays needed to be able to compare its sponsorship programmes to each other and understand how sponsorship contributed to its brand goals.

A range of benchmarks and data outputs were developed with senior stakeholders, allowing sponsorship to be properly evaluated.

This method allows sponsorship to be continually evaluated with large amounts of data succinctly presented, making it more usable.

6

The trust transaction: How content can transform the way banks connect with people

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Research on Warc, Newscred, October 2014

This report argues that banking brands should use content marketing to help build trust in the UK, but it will only work if they deliver useful, high quality and easy to understand content. View Summary

This report argues that banking brands should use content marketing to help build trust in the UK, but it will only work if they deliver useful, high quality and easy to understand content.

Britain's recession in 2008/9 was widely perceived to be caused by banks, with the whole industry cast as villains and economic growth not improving this poor opinion.

There is low trust in the industry overall, but a few challenger brands attract higher levels of trust by taking a more transparent approach.

Useful content is one important way that banking brands can start to rebuild trust with consumers, but it requires high quality content produced by specially recruited editorial teams.

This case study describes how RaboDirect, the bank, used a provocative advertising campaign in Australia to achieve growth well out-pacing that of competitors. View Summary

This case study describes how RaboDirect, the bank, used a provocative advertising campaign in Australia to achieve growth well out-pacing that of competitors.

RaboDirect was tiny compared to competitors, with low brand awareness and a media budget to match.

The company encouraged people to take their savings out of poor performing competitor accounts that had lured them in with initially good interest rates, with a 'steal back your dreams' message.

Ads portrayed greedy bankers as stealing people's dreams, for example of luxury holidays, and were placed during aspirational TV shows such as holiday and home improvements.

This led to a significant increase in website visits and new prospects, and an increase in savings deposits.

8

Bank of America: Life's Better When We're Connected

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ARF Ogilvy Awards, Gold, Financial Services, 2014

This case study describes how Bank of America reintroduced its brand with an emotional campaign that sought to help customers connect with the things most important to them. View Summary

This case study describes how Bank of America reintroduced its brand with an emotional campaign that sought to help customers connect with the things most important to them.

Running in three phases the campaign acknowledged that the Bank is not central to customer's lives, but that it can help connect them with what is.

The first phase was internal, focussing on embedding the company's values and purpose amongst staff, and then the external launch introduced the new brand concept across TV, social media and the brand website.

The campaign expanded across channels and demonstrated its values with a new financial education program and an 'express your thanks' program for returning military personnel.

The campaign led to an increase in credit product sales and spend, checking accounts, product awareness and positive sentiment.

This case study describes a social media campaign by ASB Bank, a New Zealand bank, which created a loan offer powered by Facebook Likes. View Summary

This case study describes a social media campaign by ASB Bank, a New Zealand bank, which created a loan offer powered by Facebook Likes.

Every week for four weeks a winner received a loan offer based on the number of Likes received through a Facebook app.

The campaign ran in three phases, starting with a seed campaign that targeted key influencers with a branded mailing, a launch which used radio ads to direct people to the Facebook page, and a sustain phase which used the bank's digital log in page to push people to the page and a weekly email which described phases in the home loan process.

This campaign attracted additional Facebook fans, created new customer leads and led to additional home loans.

10

Citibank rides Citi Bike sponsorship back into consumers' good will

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Geoffrey Precourt, Event Reports, ANA Brand Masters, February 2014

This report describes how Citibank, the financial services provider, improved brand health through the sponsorship of the New York bicycle sharing programme. View Summary

This report describes how Citibank, the financial services provider, improved brand health through the sponsorship of the New York bicycle sharing programme. Following the recession, Citibank was struggling from the poor perceptions connected to the whole banking sector. As the economy improved, Citi also recovered but it continued to struggle in its home town of New York. Despite reservations over aligning with a programme that would almost certainly be involved in traffic accidents, Citi undertook the sponsorship programme with the aims of increasing brand health, association with sustainability and consideration. The launch positioning focused on the bike product, rather than the bank itself. Citi Bike has returned high measures of PR, earned and social media and within 10 months of launch, 83% of riders connected the bike sharing programme to Citi, growing the bank's positive image by 22%.

11

Behavioural economics: Nudge them into switching

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Colin Strong, Admap, March 2014, pp. 14-16

This article describes how behavioural science can be used to overcome brand loyalty and nudge consumers into switching. View Summary

This article describes how behavioural science can be used to overcome brand loyalty and nudge consumers into switching. Even though consumers can save money by switching, few do in many categories. There are several key commercial considerations in this: hyperbolic discounting, where potential discounts are less salient to the consumer; regret aversion, where people fear making the wrong choice; and loss aversion, where people fear losing money (this can also stimulate switching). Data collection capabilities can be used by companies to enhance their customer service, allowing consumers to compare their circumstances to others, and get the best deal. Developments in this area may be particularly useful in low-churn categories.

12

Get real about real-time marketing

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Michael J. McDermott, ANA Magazine, Winter 2014, pp. 46-52

This article explains the opportunity represented by real-time marketing and cautions against poorly executed and obviously pre-planned strategies. View Summary

This article explains the opportunity represented by real-time marketing and cautions against poorly executed and obviously pre-planned strategies. Successful real-time marketing is built on good systems - social media teams monitoring conversations, marketing teams able to create content rapidly, and the legal structure which allows it to be executed. A survey found that just under two thirds of marketers are engaged in real-time marketing, but more than half of these limit this to feedback. Brands should make sure the services they deliver in real-time, for example a brand website and a call centre, are integrated for the customer.

This paper explains how MasterCard, the financial services company, used research to better understand online purchasing and payment behaviour. View Summary

This paper explains how MasterCard, the financial services company, used research to better understand online purchasing and payment behaviour. Despite the vast amount of data generated regarding consumer behaviour when purchasing online, the picture is incomplete. This paper identifies two gaps - intention and emotional response - and describes research methods that aim to fill these gaps. The research helped MasterCard to develop the positioning for their online payment services, taking into account how consumers feel and how they buy.

This event report provides details about the formula used by MasterCard, the financial services company, when it pursues any major digital marketing initiative. View Summary

This event report provides details about the formula used by MasterCard, the financial services company, when it pursues any major digital marketing initiative. The first of the “10 Cs” informing this approach is arguably the most important: the consumer. By focusing on how the consumer thinks, MasterCard is then able to envision what any relevant connections, conversations, communities, change, copy, creative and context may look like. The firm’s cause-related marketing builds on each of these areas. And its calculations show the return on investment from its activity, and acts as a guide to its future investment.

17

American Express Open: Small business gets an official day

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Cannes Creative Lions, Winner, Creative Effectiveness Lions, 2013

With this campaign, American Express set out to surpass its previous year's benchmarks for Small Business Saturday, an event dedicated to changing how Americans regards small businesses. View Summary

With this campaign, American Express set out to surpass its previous year's benchmarks for Small Business Saturday, an event dedicated to changing how Americans regards small businesses. It used hyper-targeted display ads, social media and one-to-one outreach to educate merchants on how Amex could help them while hyper-local ads and a click-to-add-calendar facility were used for consumers. A TV spot launched the campaign and social media was used extensively, with even President Obama tweeting in support. An extra incentive was offered to Amex cardholders in the form of a $25 credit to be spent at a participating small business. Consumer awareness reached 74% and a total of $5.5bn was spent with independent merchants on the day. The US Senate also declared Small Business Saturday an official day.

18

Visa taps in to 25 years of Olympic sponsorship

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Geoffrey Precourt, Event Reports, IEG 2013, April 2013

For Visa, the financial services provider, effective sponsorship is all about "brand stories". And its own brand story, that of offering commerce without borders and becoming accessible to everyone, has been greatly enhanced by sponsoring the Olympic Games for 25 years. View Summary

For Visa, the financial services provider, effective sponsorship is all about "brand stories". And its own brand story, that of offering commerce without borders and becoming accessible to everyone, has been greatly enhanced by sponsoring the Olympic Games for 25 years. Its long-term association with US athletes like Michael Phelps, Kerri Walsh and Misty May are representative of a broader international approach, indicating its commitment to individual athletes and markets, as well as to the wider global ideal represented by the Olympics.

The Investment Home Loan (IHL) market was stagnant and had dropped to 30% in Australia. Commonwealth Bank needed to revitalise the private investment home loan sector. View Summary

The Investment Home Loan (IHL) market was stagnant and had dropped to 30% in Australia. Commonwealth Bank needed to revitalise the private investment home loan sector. This would mean educating and persuading fearful consumers who had a little extra money to invest, that property could be a good option. Realising direct mail would not be enough, an innovative approach led to the creation of “Investorville”, an interactive game that enabled would be consumers to explore, plan and learn about property investment. Focusing on education and entertainment potential investors were given a real-life feel of the investment experience, searching, purchasing, rental issues and renovations. It guided users through the highs and lows of property investing. Within 3 months the campaign paid for itself and achieved an ROI of $6.10 to every Australian dollar spent.

20

American Express Open: Small Business Saturday

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Jay Chiat Strategic Excellence Awards, Gold, 2012

This case describes the campaign behind American Express OPEN's second "Small Business Saturday" that sought to establish the event as an annual day, in the run-up to the holiday season, to celebrate and drive business to America's small independent retailers. View Summary

This case describes the campaign behind American Express OPEN's second "Small Business Saturday" that sought to establish the event as an annual day, in the run-up to the holiday season, to celebrate and drive business to America's small independent retailers.

The credit card company mobilised its network of merchants by providing them with tools and resources to raise customer awareness, centred on the message of "shop small".

Cardholders were also engaged and consumer awareness was generated with TV, newspaper, radio and online ads, as well as social media.

The campaign saw 103m Americans support the day by "shopping small" and the US Sentate pass a resolution designating Saturday 26 November 2011 as "Small Business Saturday".

This paper focuses on brand storytelling, centering on a case study for HSBC, the global bank, that aimed to increase loyalty with the "emerging middle class" in the UK and India. View Summary

This paper focuses on brand storytelling, centering on a case study for HSBC, the global bank, that aimed to increase loyalty with the "emerging middle class" in the UK and India. The paper looks into the research period of the campaign, centered on an online "storytelling community" with 48 members. Insights from this community were then fed into HSBC communications, tools and services. The paper further suggests that the opportunity with this emerging middle class audience is much bigger globally than perhaps the client had imagined - a fact only revealed via storytelling.

With this campaign, Australian online bank RaboDirect built on the successful launch of its High Interest Savings Account (HISA). View Summary

With this campaign, Australian online bank RaboDirect built on the successful launch of its High Interest Savings Account (HISA). It positioned itself as the antidote to laziness, which it coupled with sharper targeting and a provocative messaging tone. RaboDirect was able to jolt risk-averse savers into action, encouraging them to no longer forgo a collective A$4.7bn in 'lost' interest but rather to 'steal their dreams back off the greedy big banks' with a RaboDirect HISA. The bank exceeded its funds-raised objective and also increased online conversions by 1,049%, or 21 times over target.

Following research, a direct mail brief to attract would-be Australian property tycoons to Commonwealth Bank morphed into the development of the world's first investment property simulator. View Summary

Following research, a direct mail brief to attract would-be Australian property tycoons to Commonwealth Bank morphed into the development of the world's first investment property simulator. The bank created Investorville, a digital platform that combined behavioural change insight, gamification mechanics and a technical mash-up to deliver a real-life experience. Limited advertising targeted potential investors before the site was picked up by bloggers and gained wider currency. The platform paid for itself within 12 weeks and achieved an ROI of 2.21:1.

24

American Express: Small Business Saturday

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Jay Chiat Strategic Excellence Awards, Gold, 2011

American Express OPEN was looking for ways to help small business customers be successful. But the needs of U.S. View Summary

American Express OPEN was looking for ways to help small business customers be successful. But the needs of U.S. small businesses were changing. As small businesses started to emerge from the recession, their most pressing need was to get and retain customers. American Express's business model presented a 'closed loop' advantage: the largest issuer of payment cards, with a merchant relationship with millions of small retailers. So American Express began Small Business Saturday - a major one-day event that invited Americans to join together to support their local small businesses. It launched on November 27, 2010, during the biggest shopping weekend of the year, to drive business to small businesses and ignite a 'shop small' movement. In a year when holiday sales increased less than 4%, that weekend saw overall sales up 9%. And small retailers saw sales to customers using their American Express Cards jump 28%.

25

Bank of Queensland (BOQ): Smashing targets with the Owner-Manager story

For this rebranding campaign, a small Australian financial services firm changed its name from Bank of Queensland to BOQ and also launched a new visual image and logo. View Summary

For this rebranding campaign, a small Australian financial services firm changed its name from Bank of Queensland to BOQ and also launched a new visual image and logo. The bank identified three target audiences: middle-aged mortgage holders, owners of very small businesses and young adults. To appeal to these groups, it repositioned itself as offering a "truly personal" service from "local" managers. TV and press ads were prominent in the media mix; there was also a high degree of local customisation of campaign creative. Following the campaign, brand awareness rose by 7% across key markets, while the brand's NPS also rose to a far higher level than its larger rivals.